This is a roomy, welcoming house that you just know has served family life well in the years since it was built. With shining wood everywhere – stripped doors, original timber floors and an Edwardian-style curve of banisters – it also has original fireplaces, large windows, high ceilings (the reception hallway rises to more than 3m) and quirky original features that make surprise appearances. All in all, 92 Iona Road has character, space and light.
It is also ready to be lived in, though a new owner will likely want to revamp the décor and colour schemes, perhaps even sacrifice a bedroom or first-floor study to create an en suite or two.
Iona Road is one of Glasnevin’s more elegantly traditional roads and number 92 – called “Maura” – faces the landmark St Columba’s Church, itself a fixture since 1905.
The front garden is nicely landscaped and railed and a rear, south-facing garden has a well-equipped children’s play area and rear lane access. The house last sold for €945,000 in May 2015, and is now on the market for €1.15 million through agent Kelly Bradshaw Dalton.
The floor area of 183sq m (1,970sq ft) is divided between five bedrooms, bathroom, WC and study on the first floor and, on the ground floor, adjoining reception rooms and a kitchen/family/dining area.
The reception rooms are filled with light given by a front bay window and rear, equally wide, box window. Black marble fireplaces with brass canopies are an original pair, a rare enough occurrence, and both rooms have picture rails. The large almost square hallway, which has dado and picture rails, gets refracted light through coloured glass in the front door.
A rear/side extension on this level houses a bright familyroom with pitched ceiling, Velux windows, two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows over the garden, fitted kitchen with centre island and, in the dining area, the original cast-iron fireplace with oven to the side – non-functioning but considered an innovative system in its day.
There are a couple of children’s bedrooms on the second level of this extension, as well as a WC and bathroom. The other three bedrooms are off the main landing; the main, front-facing bedroom has an original fireplace with high, wooden mantle, picture rail, fitted wardrobes and front facing bay window. A small study could become an en suite.
The spacious attic was converted in 2005. It has chimney-top and distant mountain views as well as considerable eaves storage space.
